Coconut Macaroons

I absolutely love coconut macaroons, and everything coconut for that matter!

Check out the before and after pics of my coconut macaroons! 

Banana Bread Cupcakes ?

So I had a couple of ripe bananas on the counter the other day and decided to revisit the banana bread!  As you may know, if you've read my last post on banana bread, I do not own a loaf pan.  My last banana bread came out looking like biscotti.  This time, I decided to finally use the ramekins that my sister gifted me as part of a baking set one year for Christmas, and it worked pretty well I must say!  The bf and I both spooned it out of the little cups bite by bite, and it was delish.  I love banana bread and how my entire apartment smells like bananas.  Going bananas for banana bread!  I swear I purposely buy bananas just so they can go ripe and made into banana bread lol.

Long Week: As Long as My Foot-long

This week was painstakingly dreadful despite the upcoming, highly anticipated labor day weekend and being released a little earlier today.  I was really hoping to be let out before lunch and was so looking forward to (and expecting) it that I totally forgot about lunch ... until I realized that everybody in the office had gone out.  So I faced the truth and went to get myself a Subway's foot-long while moping.

I opted for the oven-roasted chicken on whole wheat bread with everything on it plus honey mustard.  It was literally as long as my keyboard.  All that for $5 excluding tax ...amazing!

When I finally got home, my beau shows me a mini-mooncake that his co-worker had given him.  It was delivered to her straight from Hong Kong and she demanded that he eat it quickly while it's fresh!  Hence we scarfed it down!

It really was just a mini "cake."  It was nothing like the traditional moon cake other than the "moon," or the yolk, in the center.  But then again, over the past few years, the moon cake has evolved into variations including chilled moon cakes and flavored moon cakes (such as green tea, red bean, etc).  Nonetheless, this mini moon cake was very delish and I'd prefer having this over the original moon cake anytime.

No Life? Have an Egg Tart!

Boy oh boy...

I just survived a month of continuous studying of dry material for the Regulations section of the CPA exam.  Continuous is defined as lugging the book and my notes wherever I go and reading whenever time is available, ie: on crowded New York City trains to and from work (despite the lack of room to move and being crammed against train doors) and reading once I get home no matter how exhausted I am.  I seriously have NO LIFE whatsoever right now, but I know that it'll be worth it in the long-run.

And so I took the test this morning.  Although there are 3 more sections to come and I either failed this section or am borderline passing ... I am glad that it is over.  I've been running on 4-5 hours of sleep a day, so all I want to do right now, at this moment, is Relax!  Relaxing entails some good food, so I picked up these on the way back home!

I love, love, love egg tarts.  I've attempted to bake a mini version of it with store-bought mini phyllo dough cups.  The filling somewhat resembled the authentic version, but fresh phyllo dough really makes a difference.

I also bought a Kaya Bun ...  Why am I fat?

My Cubicle Smells Like Fish!

If you ask me to name a cheap, simple food that I can't resist myself from eating, I'd have to answer you Chinese buns. Yes, those carby little devils that typically cost under $1.00 each that are paired with an array of fillings - roast pork, kaya, ham & egg, hot dog, cream, nothing at all, or the one filling that I was in the mood for today, tunafish!

Now, it is quite the challenge for someone who works in Midtown Manhattan to find affordable lunch. I am truly envious of those who can afford to go out for lunch 5 out of the 5 workdays, because like I've mentioned in a previous post, even salads can cost up to $10! So I've set a budget for my lunch on days that I don't feel like bringing any homemade food to work: $5.00. Yup, cinco dolares! Believe it or not, it is possible! However, my options are undoubtedly, very, very, and I mean, VERY limited. I can count restaurants in Midtown that offer lunch under $5.00 with five fingers! Well, I might be exaggerating a wee bit, but it is definitely as hard as finding treasures on the ocean floor! Luckily for me, Fay Da, a Chinese bakery is just around the corner ...

And so I decided on the tuna bun. Fay Da's tuna bun is unlike any other that you may find at a Chinese bakery. It isn't just a plain bun with tuna fish filling. It is a cylindrical bun with soft edges and a distinctive top crust whose texture is comparable to pastries made with phyllo dough. It is well-balanced with a slight flakiness and a slight crunch with every bite, but because it is much more compact than phyllo dough, it doesn't leave a single flake on your lip!

They also fill the bun with a decent amount of tuna fish, so don't worry about not getting your bang for the buck (buck 25 in this case). Although my cubicle smelled very much like fish after I split the bun into two, it was very well worth it.

Fay Da also offers a variety of other baked and steamed buns. What's even better is they are situated in the same location as Lunch Box Buffet, where I get my $5.00 lunch boxes with 5 selections.

Oh don't worry, you'll be seeing a lunch box soon enough, when my cheap a** gets too lazy to cook.